Baseball: Monsters Shut Out at Williamsport 2-0

Posted on , updated on by George Commo

Courtesy Vermont Lake Monsters

WILLIAMSPORT, PA — A Rudy Rott RBI double and Logan O’Hoppe solo homer were all the offense that the Crosscutters would need as three Williamsport pitchers combined on a seven-hit shutout of the Vermont Lake Monsters in a 2-0 New York-Penn League win Friday night at Bowman Field.

The Crosscutters took a 1-0 lead in second inning on an O’Hoppe leadoff single and Rott’s one-out RBI double to rightfield. That would be the only run allowed by Lake Monsters starter Richard Morban over his five innings with five hits allowed, one walk and three strikeouts.

O’Hoppe made it 2-0 in the bottom of the sixth with the two-out solo homer to left off Vermont reliever Jorge Martinez. Lake Monsters had a chance to score in both the seventh and eighth innings, but each inning ended with rightfielder Hunter Hearn throwing out a runner at the plate.

In the seventh Jordan Diaz doubled with one out and Kevin Richards singled with two outs, but Hearn threw out Diaz trying to score from second. Then in the eighth Marty Bechina led off with a double and advanced to third on a flyout before being out at home after Shane Selman flew out to Hearn in foul territory for inning-ending double play.

The Lake Monsters then loaded the bases in the ninth on a Michael Woodworth (2-for-4) leadoff single, Jose Rivas one-out walk and Diaz single to right field, but Crosscutter Omar Maldando struckout Lawrence Butler and got Richards to flyout to end the game for his second save.

The shutout was the seventh thrown against the Lake Monsters this season, including the sixth in Vermont’s last 14 games. The Lake Monsters are now 0-14 when scoring three runs or less, while Vermont opponents are 9-9 when scoring three or fewer runs.

The O’Hoppe homer was the only run allowed by Martinez, who gave up four hits with a walk and two strikeouts over three innings. Martinez worked around 2 singles, a walk and two stolen bases in the eighth inning to get a two-out grounder to leave the bases loaded.

Vermont (11-17) returns home to historic Centennial Field for a three-game series againt the Pinckney Division-leading Batavia Muckdogs beginning Saturday at 6:05 pm. It is Wizard Night at the ballpark and following the game will be the first of three firework shows this season.